Improvement in steam and air brakes



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

.Ici-IN Y. SMITH, or PIrrsBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM AND AIR BRAKES. E

` Y Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 136,781, lated March ll, M73.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN Y. SMITH, resid-k ing at Pittsburg,` in the countv 0f Allegheny This invention relates to car-brakes, and to' the method of applying them to the wheels of cars; and it consistsin the construction, combination, and arrangement ofl some of the parts of which the apparatus is composed, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

In constructing car-brakes of this character I use a iexible diaphragm or cylinder, or a series of such diaphragms, A, to which the rods which connect it or them with the brake-levers are attached.

This diaphragm or cylinder is held in its proper position `by means ot' rods or bars of metal A2, which are securedA to the body of the car in suchfa manner that the friction wheels or rollers A3,"whichare secured to the heads of the cylinder, may roll on or bet-Ween them, and thus allow the heads to approach each other when the vacuum is formed within the cylinder. To the outer surface of the vheads A1 staples or eye-bolts are secured in such a manner that links orconnecting-rods A4 may be attached thereto, andhave their outer ends brought to a common point, and connected to the outer portions of the brakerods A5 A5, the outer ends of which are connected to the levers B which operate the .brakes As a consequence of connecting the operating-levers B B in this manner a much shorter connecting-rod may be used, and the diaphragm' or cylinder which is made to apply the brakes, is caused to form a part of such rod, and as the movement is from each end toward thecenter it follows that each brake, or thebrakes upon both trucks of the car, will be applied at one and the same time, and with the same amount of force, thus avoid- A ing theliabi'lity of slipping the wheels of one of the trucks while the brakes are not pressed upon the wheels of the other with the requisite amount of force. The levers B B, above referred to, are suspended to the body of the car by links or hz'nigers B B', in order that their point of suspension may travel backward and forward with the heads ot' the vacuum-chamber, they being carried inward by the'pressure upon the heads thereof, and outward by the springing action of the brake-levers` and beams, or springs may be attached to them for lthat purpose. To provide for regulating the amount of force which is to be applied to the wheels of different cars, that portion of the levers B B which are to remain stationary when acted upon by the vacuumchamber or cylinder, is made to rest in a hanger, O, which is `attached to the body of the car orto the truck-frame in such a position as to be readily accessible, it being most so,.

perhaps, when arranged between the jaws ot' the truck, and which is to have its lower horizon tal portion perforated with a series ofholes,

as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, in order` that when the proper position of this end of the lever has been determined a pin may bel passedthrough such holes or one of them, and the lever prevented from i moving inward at that end. l

The object had inview in thusarranging the levers B, as described, with reference to the hangers C and the vacuum-chamber or cylinder is two-fold: First, it provides for regulating the amount of force to be applied to the brakes by fixing the position andi travel of the levers D D, so that when the brake is ap plied to a light car it may be so adjusted as not to slip the wheels, andffwhen applied to a heavier one, which will bearthe application of more force toits wheels without slipping them, it may be adjusted to such car. The remaining object attained byfthis arrange ment is the providing for the movement out` ward of these outer ends of the' levers Bgvhen;

the brakes are to be applied` by hand, as will,

frequently be the case when the cars are not l coupled to the engine.

While the outer ends of the levers B B, ,nuA der the arrangement above described, are prevented from being moved inward or toward the vacuum-chamber by the pin which passes down by the side thereof and 'through Ythe yoke C, they are free to move outward, and are made to do so by having a rope or chain, E, attached to them at any desired point between their outer ends and the point where they are suspended to the car, which rope or chain extends to and is secured to a vertical shaft, El, around which it is wound when it is desirable to apply the brakes by hand, a wheel,

E2, being placed upon said shaft for the purpose of allowing the brakes to be set with the requisite amount of force. This application of the brakes may bemade from either end of the car; but it will be seen that when operating from either end an additional leverage 11pon the brake-lever of the opposite end is ob tained, owing to the fact that the outer end of the lever B upon that end will be brought into contact with the pin, which prevents it from passing inward, and that as a consequence that point will become the pivotal point upon which the lever will move and as theforce is communicated through the vacuum-chamber and the rods connected with it additional leverage is obtained, because the'point at which the connection with the lever B is made is further from the pivotal point of such lever than it is from the point where such connection is made to the outer end of the lever where the connection is made with lever D by means ot' a rod, F, which rod serves as such Aconnection whether the brakes are to be applied by hand or by atmospheric pressure. The lever 1) is pivoted in a bfurcated stud, which is attached to the outer brake-levers G, and a connection is made between its lower arm and the beam G by means of rod H, in order that the movement of levers B may apply the brakes to all ofthe wheels of a car. v The air is to be exhausted from the cylinder or vacuu1n'-chamber A by any suitable mechanism-such as a suction-fan', pump, or an ejector, in which steam or gas is used-fa pipe or hose being attached to one of the heads of the chamber, from which it leads directly to such exhausting mechanism; or it may be connected with pipes placed upon other cars whose pipes connect with such mechanism. The form of diaphragm ory cylinder which I at present prefer to use is shown in Fig. 1, but the one' shown in Fig. 2 will work satisfactorily.

It is apparent that this device may be used for applying brakes by the-use of compressed air or by steam, the only requirements being that the parts should be placed in differentpositions, or so that the brakes shall be applied by their closing movement when using atmospheric pressure, and so as t0 apply them by their opening movements in using compressed air or steam.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In an apparatus for connecting the brake,

levers of cars, the flexible-or expansible and contractible portion A and the rigid or nonexpansible portions A4 A5, the parts being constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.'

2. The stops G and the adjustable levers B, in combination with the brake-levers D and rod F, whereby the relation of the brake-shoes with reference to the wheels may be adjusted, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of a iexible vacuumchamber with the brake-lever or levers of a is obtained upon one end of the car, substantially as specited.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specilication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN Y. SMITH.

Witnesses:

D. P. HoLLowAY, f W. BRADFORD. 

